Sirius satelite radio reviews?

Question

I'm thinking of getting a satelite radio for myself, but I'm not really sure how it works or if it'd be right for me. I understand that it's 13 bucks a month, but than what are those prepaid cards for? anyhoo, I bike to work everyday and usually listen to my ipod on the way (just under an hour) so I rarely use my car, and I'm not sure if it'd get enough use in the house, so what do you recomend for me? I heard that you can buy those personal ones that are kinda like an mp3 player, but I read somewhere that you have to have it docked in your car or house for it to be live so I dunno if I'm really up for that? anyhoo, what is the startup cost for a house unit, personal unit, or a vehicle? also what does it cost you and would you recomend it. Do you have one? and what do you use if for? any good (or bad) reviews?

Answer 1

Yes, the service is $13/month, or the monthly payment equivalent can be less if you prepay for more months at a time (six, twelve, twenty-four, etc).  You can pay by credit card, or you can use the prepay cards that you see in stores.

Sirius has an older unit, the s50, that plays live while docked, but when undocked, can only play mp3s or Sirius content that you can record while it is docked.  This unit is old and hard to find now.

Sirius has a new unit called the stiletto2 or SL2.  This unit will receive live reception even out of the dock.  Signal is so-so with its internal antenna.  Included in its package, however, is a pair of headphones with a built-in antenna on the top.  If you wear them, the signal is pretty good.  They are kind of big and clunky though.

Also, you can record Sirius content and play it back.  So you can always record music overnight, then listen to what you recorded on your bike ride to work.

The SL2 also can receive Sirius's internet radio via a WiFi connection.  It also has a slot for a Micro-SD memory card, so you can load up to 8 GB of mp3s onto it.

The SL2 itself is probably around $250-300 right now.  Then the car and home kits are about $50 each.